The present invention relates to ergonomic illuminated dental or surgical mirrors.
Small mirrors with extended handled have been in common use for aiding dental or oral surgical procedures. In addition, it has been found beneficial to combine such an instrument with a light source that impinges light directly on the reflective mirror surface.
Meitzler (U.S. Pat. No. 1,817,417) describes a mirror instrument with a small incandescent lamp at the distal end of the handle portion. A shield is used to minimize the chance of patient tissue contact with the hot lamp surface. A cable is used to supply power to the lamp from a stationary source.
Verderber (U.S. Pat. No. 5,139,421) has a mirror light with two embodiments. In one version, it is a self-contained instrument with battery power source and lamp in the handle portion. Light is conveyed to the distal end adjacent the mirror head through a light pipe so as to eliminate the exposure of the patient to the hot incandescent lamp. In an alternate embodiment, light from a stationary lamp and power source is conveyed using a fiber optic cable to the handpiece of the instrument.
A problem with existing dental examination mirrors is that they need to be held tightly by their whole weight within the tips of the user""s thumb and fore finger. This manual manner of holding a dental examination mirror tends to induce jerky, stress inducing movements of the fingers tightly holding the mirror. Besides stress on the finger""s of the user, any spasmodic movements of the mirror in this position of holding reduces its efficiency to clearly visualize the object sought to be viewed within the mouth the patient.
It is therefore an object of the invention to provide an ergonomic lighted mirror instrument of light weight and beneficial weight distribution.
It is a further object to provide a self-contained instrument with a long battery life.
It is also an object of the invention to eliminate any exposure of the patient to heat from a light source.
It is a further object to provide white light illuminating surfaces with truer color rendering.
It is also an object of this invention to use disposable mirror refills which simply slip on to the distal end of the instrument to enhance hygiene.
To achieve these objectives and others which may become apparent, a cool lamp such as a white light-emitting diode (LED) is preferably used for illumination. Due to the very high efficiency of this type of device, its surface remains cool and presents no burning hazard. Also, long battery life from small button cells is possible.
The dental mirror is lit by the small LED lamp at the distal end of a shank handle. Both the mirror and its collar are removable and disposable after each use.
The lamp directs light onto the mirror. The lamp is powered by a battery in the proximal handle end, which is activated by a rotating threaded switch. The lamp is connected by wires within the shank. The reflective surface of the mirror has anti-fogging capabilities.
By using this type of power source instead of tubular cells, they can be housed in a short larger diameter tube at the proximal end of the instrument whereby the weight is concentrated in the webbed edge of the palm of the user""s hand between the thumb and fore finger. This enables the mirror to positioned at a distal end of a thin shank, which reduces visual and physical obstruction during use, then extends to the distal end supporting the mirror head.
Preferably, the weight of the short, larger diameter tube housing the batteries contains most of the weight of the unit. For example, in a typical mirror, the weight of the short, heavier battery accommodating distal end portion is about 1.3 ounces in weight, compared to an overall weight of the entire mirror itself is about 1.5 ounces. In that preferable example, the shorter, heavier battery accommodating distal end portion contains about 87 percent of the total weight of the dental mirror.
Moreover, the slender lightweight elongated shank handle is less than xc2xc inch in diameter, to minimize visual obstruction of the user""s view to the lighted mirror.
Therefore, the fulcrum is concentrated at the proximal battery accommodating end of the dental mirror, which allows for the thin, lightweight shank handle having the mirror and light to extend outward toward the distal end thereof. Therefore, a user can support the heavier weighted proximal end in the webbed edge of the palm between the thumb and fore finger, while gently manipulating between the tips of the thumb and fore finger the shank handle holding the mirror and light at its distal end.
This manner of holding the dental mirror permits subtle manual movements of the mirror during oral examinations, instead of jerky stress inducing movements caused by the necessity of holding the whole weight of prior art mirror tightly between the thumb and fore finger. These ergonomic features enhance the usability of the invention and reduce fatigue during long procedures.